


Whumptober 13

by Waywocket



Category: Steam Powered Giraffe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-13
Updated: 2020-10-13
Packaged: 2021-03-07 20:55:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26984017
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Waywocket/pseuds/Waywocket
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to remember. Especially when he can't get the sounds out of his head.
Comments: 15
Kudos: 19
Collections: Whumptober 2020





	Whumptober 13

Sitting in the dim red lights of the Hall of Wires, The Spine hid his face in his hands. The only sound in the room was the low hum of wires and machines as electricity coursed through them.

But in his head, it was deafening. The gasping and hacking, and the screaming rang in his ears, in his head. There had been so much screaming back then. Soldiers calling and begging for help, lying, dying in the dirt, covered in burns and blisters. Coughing painfully when the masks had failed them.

As the memories washed over him, he could smell the pungent smell of the mustard gas as it hung in thick in the air. Could smell the burning, though he was never sure if it was only a trick of the mind. Something he wasn’t supposed to be able to do.

His mind was composed of wires, meant to be strong and resilient, to never malfunction. And yet, he could still see them all. Could see them in desperation peel away their uniforms, and scream when the pain only got worse.

He saw them as they gasped, covering their mouths, trying to save already burning lungs. Those were the men he needed to get first. Save them before the gas left them totally breathless. Get them out of the gas and to the safety of a thick medical tent.

Then he could get the others, pull those screaming as they blistered and boiled. Save as many humans as possible. That was his job.

He could feel their hands on him still. They pawed at him, clung to his uniform in desperation. He was their salvation, and they feared being left behind. 

The Spine was strong. As he carried men in his arms, he told the others to hold on. He wouldn’t leave a single man behind.

Each trip filled him with dread, fear coiling in his boiler. Every trip found more corpses for removal. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t save them all, but try he did.

Again and again, he went into the gas, pulling out as many men as his body could carry. Each time they cried out to be saved. Cried out for family that wasn't there to protect them or soothe them. 

He tried, he tried his best. The Spine spoke softly to them as he carried them, tried not to hurt them any more than he had to as he cradled their blister and burned bodies.

For all his work, there had still been a pile of men he couldn’t save. He wasn’t fast enough, strong enough to save everyone. 

After that, he sat with the men and held their hands. He talked and sang. Listened to their stories, memorized their family they prayed to see, just one last time. Listened to their last raspy breaths as their lungs gave up at last. 

For all of his work, so few of them had gone home. They died, crying for mothers and brothers between painful raspy breaths. They died with their hands holding tightly to his, thanking him for trying. For caring enough to give them peace.

They left him alone to weep. He wept for the dead. For the suffering. He cried out for home and the family he could not reach. Thick sobs filled the air as he mourned the innocence he lost in this war, in his incompetence. 

But he did not weep when he was called again. When the next time came, he stood tall and marched on. The Spine was afraid, but he wouldn’t stop. He kept charging into those mist-covered fields, and he’d save every soldier he could. Every life that he could save, he held tightly to it.

Even when their death rattles rang in his head, drowning out the sounds of the manor. Even when he lost the meaning of silence and solace, it wouldn’t stop him. 

Oil pooled onto the floor of the Hall of Wires, but still, The Spine rushed in to save them.


End file.
